Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong

The two women came to the spa in March for a consultation and treatment, Haney told the newspaper. They each received treatments, and then paid by check.

Turns out, the bounced checks were as rubber as the thieves' faces.

"The checks were returned," Haney told the Register. "The women didn't give me a bad vibe and they weren't anxious at all. You just never know."

Haney filed a report with Brea police on Friday. The spa is no longer accepting checks.

The Botox hustle happened just one month after a woman dubbed "the SoCal Boob Bandit" surrendered to police.

Yvonne Jean Pampellonne, 30, allegedly used a fraudulent identity to pay for liposuction and a breast implant exchange, according to the Huntington Beach Police Department. The total cost of the surgeries is valued at more than $12,000.

The Laguna Niguel woman is accused of opening a line of credit in someone else's name in September 2008, having the procedures and then never showing up for any follow-up appointments, police said.

But wait there's more.

The Orange County Register reported a third recent cosmetic caper:

In January and February, a "Botox Bandit" struck at two Newport Beach clinics, where an unidentified woman had $1,000 to $3,000 worth of injections of Botox and dermal filler, then walked away without paying, the Register reported in the In Your Face blog.

Apparently in this economy, anything can be stolen -- even artificial beauty.